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Foreign jihadists hide in deserts of Syria and Iraq to evade justice

Anthony Loyd, Qamishli, Syria

December 27 2017, 12:01am, The Times

Members of the Hashed al-Shaabi celebrate after the Iraqi prime minister declares victory in early DecemberGetty Images

Thousands of western foreign fighters serving with Islamic State have escaped encirclement in the final battles along the Syrian-Iraqi border, finding sanctuary in remote desert areas elsewhere or escaping to Turkey, local commanders and intelligence officers have said.

Though many foreign fighters are thought to have been killed on the battlefield — often by airstrikes which rendered identification impossible — and nearly 6,000 have returned home, according to data from 33 countries of origin, even the most liberal estimate of those killed combined with those otherwise accounted for leaves thousands of foreign fighters still at large.